Archives for April 2011

By Alan Zarembo and Ben Welsh | Los Angeles Times | Link to article Turning up the power is a little-publicized way of getting more electricity from existing nuclear plants. But scrutiny is likely to increase in the wake of Japan’s nuclear crisis. The U.S. nuclear industry is turning up the power on old reactors, […]

By VANESSA FUHRMANS | The Wall Street Journal | Link to article German engineering giant Siemens AG is considering whether to abandon its goal of becoming a major player in the atomic-power industry, according to people familiar with the matter, as Japan’s nuclear crisis continues to unfold. While top executives at Siemens haven’t made any […]

By Patrick McGreevy | Los Angeles Times | Link to article The California law increases a previous mandate of 20% renewable energy. U.S. energy secretary calls the law a model for other states, and an industry group says it could create 100,000 jobs. Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed into law a requirement that California […]

By PHRED DVORAK, JURO OSAWA and YUKA HAYASHI | Wall Street Journal | Link to article TOKYO-The Japanese government raised its assessment of the monthlong crisis at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to the highest severity level by international standards-a rating only conferred so far upon the Chernobyl accident. Japan’s nuclear regulators said the […]

By Tiffany Hsu | Los Angeles Times | Greenspace: Environmental news from California and beyond | Link to article Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Tuesday a mandate that 33% of electricity in California must come from renewable sources by 2020. Executives at solar, wind and other clean energy companies said the new regulations could […]

By BEN CASSELMAN And STEPHEN POWER | Wall Street Journal | Link to article The owner of California’s Diablo Canyon nuclear-power plant said it wouldn’t seek license renewals for its two reactors until new studies of the area’s vulnerability to earthquakes can be conducted. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. had applied for a 20-year license […]

By ALESSANDRO TORELLO | Wall Street Journal | Link to article BRUSSELS—The European Union next week will propose taxing transport and heating fuels according to their greenhouse-gas emissions as well as their energy content, introducing a climate-change component in EU tax rules for the first time, after years of negotiations. The European Commission, which has […]

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL | The New York Times | Link to article The starchy cassava root has long been an important ingredient in everything from tapioca pudding and ice cream to paper and animal feed. But last year, 98 percent of cassava chips exported from Thailand, the world’s largest cassava exporter, went to just one […]

By CARI TUNA and TAMARA AUDI | Wall Street Journal | Link to article If a 7.8-magnitude quake ripped the earth open along the southern San Andreas Fault this afternoon, it would cut a swath of destruction from the eastern desert to the Los Angeles basin. It would pull down buildings, kill 1,800 people and […]